All results / Stories / Associated Press
USDA updates rules for school meals that limit sugars
The nation’s school meals will get a makeover under new nutrition standards that limit added sugars for the first time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture an- nounced Wednesday. The final rule also trims sodium in students’ meals, although not by the 30% first proposed in 2023. And it con- tinues to allow flavored milks — such as chocolate milk — with less sugar, rather than adopting an option that would have offered only unflavored milk to the youngest kids. The aim is to improve nutrition and align with U.S. dietary guidelines in the program that provides breakfasts to more than 15 million students and lunches to nearly 30 million students every day at a cost of about $22.6 billion per year. “All of this is designed to ensure that students have quality meals and that we meet parents’ expectations,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters. The limits on added sugars would be required in the 2025-2026 school year, starting with high-sugar foods such as cereal, yogurt and flavored milk. By the fall of 2027, added sugars in school meals would be limited to no more than 10% of the total calories per week for breakfasts and lunches, in addition to limits on sugar in specific products. New WIC rules include more money for fruits and veggies. They also expand food choices Officials had proposed to reduce sodium in school meals by as much as 30% over the next several years. But after receiving mixed public comments and a directive from Congress included in the fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill approved in March, the agency will reduce sodium levels allowed in breakfasts by 10% and in lunches by 15% by the 2027-2028 school year.
Remove or keep a statue? South Africa also debates painful legacy
A hulking statue of a late 19th century white leader, with a cane and top hat, has been a flashpoint for cultural conflict in South Africa for years. Black protesters threw paint on it. White supporters rallied around it. Authorities surrounded the statue with barbed wire and then ringed it with a more permanent fence.
DOJ: Buffett company discriminated against Black homebuyers
A Pennsylvania mortgage company owned by billionaire businessman Warren Buffett’s company discriminated against potential Black and Latino homebuyers in Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware, the Department of Justice said Wednesday, in what is being called the second-largest redlining settlement in history. Trident Mortgage Co., a division of Berkshire Hathaway’s HomeServices of America, deliberately avoided writing mortgages in minority-majority neighborhoods in West Philadelphia such as Malcolm X Park; Camden, N.J.; and in Wilmington, Del., the Justice Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in their settlement with Trident.
What if Donald Trump is convicted? Republican convention rules don’t address issue
The Republican National Committee’s rules for next year’s nominating contest and convention were released this week without addressing a question the GOP could well face next summer: Can the party’s delegates vote for a different candidate if the presumptive nominee is convicted of a felony?
‘The Marvels’ melts down at the box office, marking a new low for the Universe
Since 2008’s “Iron Man,” the Marvel machine has been one of the most unstoppable forces
The Obamas’ official portraits unveiled at the White House
Former President Obama and his wife, Michelle, returned to the White House on Sept. 7, for the unveiling of their official portraits with a modern vibe in an event that set humor and nostalgia over his presidency against the current harsh political talk about the survival of democracy.
House votes to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib over her Israel-Hamas rhetoric in a stunning rebuke
The House voted late Tuesday to censure Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan — the only Palestinian American in Congress — an extraordinary rebuke of her rhetoric about the Israel-Hamas war.
Virginia Senate Democrats postpone work on constitutional amendments and kill GOP voting bills
A Democrat-led Virginia Senate panel on Tuesday defeated a handful of Republican-sponsored voting bills and moved to put on hold consideration of several proposed constitutional amendments until after this year’s session.
In ‘Equalizer 3,’ Denzel Washington’s assassin goes to Italy
Filmmaker Antoine Fuqua has been dreaming about taking the Equalizer abroad for years. The action franchise (very loosely based on a 1980s television series) starring Denzel Washington as the reluctant assassin Robert McCall had rooted itself in humble domestic beginnings, in Boston. But after two films and $382.7 million in box office receipts in the past decade, the time seemed ripe to travel.
The history behind ‘parents’ rights’ in schools
The movement for “parents’ rights” saw many of its candidates come up short in this year’s midterm elections. But if history is any guide, the cause is sure to live on — in one form or another.
McClellan becomes 1st Black Virginia woman in Congress
Democrat Jennifer L. McClellan was sworn into the U.S. House on Tuesday, becoming the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress.
Book has insight, no clear answer on Ralph Northam blackface yearbook photo
A Virginia author’s investigative effort to uncover the origins of a racist photo on Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook page has ended inconclusively, according to the author, who has written a book that offers new details about the 2019 scandal and the former governor’s remarkable political survival.
Housing Secretary Fudge resigning; Biden hails her dedication to boosting supply of affordable homes
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge announced Monday that she would resign her post, effective March 22, saying she was leaving “with mixed emotions.”
From early on, Childs seen as 'destined for further things'
When she hired Michelle Childs to practice employment law in the early 1990s right out of school, Vickie Eslinger said she knew there was something different about the freshly minted South Carolina attorney.
Biased test kept thousands of Black people from getting a kidney transplant, but it's finally changing
Jazmin Evans had been waiting for a new kidney for four years when her hospital revealed shocking news: She should have been put on the transplant list in 2015 instead of 2019 — and a racially biased organ test was to blame.
As diversity, equity and inclusion comes under legal attack, companies quietly alter their programs
Sophia Danner-Okotie’s has ambitious plans for her Nigerian-inspired clothing line but a sense of dread has punctured her optimism as she watches a legal battle being waged against a small venture capital firm that has provided funding instrumental to her boutique brand’s growth.
U.S. Open champ Coco Gauff wants to get better and win more major titles — don’t doubt her
Now that Coco Gauff is a Grand Slam champion, she’s ready for stardom.
Could Youngkin be on presidential campaign trail?
Most say it’s a ‘no’ for Virginia’s governor
Glenn Youngkin was waving off talk about running for the White House back in 2021, before he’d even made it to the Virginia governor’s mansion.
Black kids face racism before they even start school
To her students who need the most support, India Strother is rarely just “Ms. Strother” — she’s a family figure they call “Mom,” a trusted guide as they negotiate their teenage years.
Appreciation: Bill Russell lived a life like very few others
Bill Russell hated autographs. Saw no point to them. If he was out din- ing and got approached by someone asking for his signature, Mr. Russell’s usual response was to instead ask the person to join him at the table to have
